Distributor Ingram Micro buys shipping service Shipwire

Shipwire Inc., which provides warehousing, fulfillment and logistics services to more than 1,000 web merchants and brands, will become part of technology products distributor Ingram Micro Inc. Ingram Micro did not report what it will pay for Shipwire.

Ingram Micro distributes computer hardware and software and other technology products in about 160 countries for such manufacturers as Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp, Samsung Electronics Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. Through its Ingram Micro Logistics division, it provides customer service and fulfillment services for online retailers and other companies through a global network of more than 50 logistics services centers. With Shipwire, it’s expanding its ability to provide warehousing, fulfillment and logistics services for retailers and consumer brand manufacturers, the company says.

“The addition of Shipwire will enable us to accelerate our growth in a $40 billion market for e-commerce fulfillment services that is estimated to be growing by double-digits through 2015,” Ingram Micro CEO Alain Monié says. He adds that with Shipwire, Ingram Micro will be better positioned to help its existing client brand manufacturers to more quickly get their products distributed to retail e-commerce channels.

Shipwire, which has serves clients from more than 50 countries, operates an international network of fulfillment centers and provides software that routes orders from a client e-commerce site to the most appropriate fulfillment center based on available inventory and shipping times and costs. It operates three fulfillment centers in the United States, in Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles; two in Canada, in Vancouver and Toronto; and two others, in London and Hong Kong. It also has plans to open fulfillment centers in Brazil, Germany and Australia.

Shipwire has two clients listed among retailers in the Internet Retailer Second 500.

Shipwire will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram Micro and continue to be headed by Shipwire founder and CEO Damon Schechter. He will report to Robert Gifford, Ingram Micro’s executive vice president of global logistics.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions, is expected to close before the end of this year, the companies say.